Remove from cooker 10-12°F below the final internal temperature desired.

Sear in a 500°F oven
for 10-15 minutes.

Cover loosely with
foil and let rest 30 minutes before carving.

Standing rib roast, dry-aged for three days

Sliced, dry-aged standing rib roast

Beef is dry aged in order
to make it more tender and flavorful. During dry aging, enzymes in the
meat go to work on the connective tissue and muscle fibers,
resulting in increased tenderness. Also, a significant amount of moisture
evaporates from the meat, resulting in more intense flavor. At the end of
this article, I've included links to more information about aging meat that you
might find interesting.

I was inspired to dry age
a standing rib roast after watching Alton Brown do one on "Good Eats" on the
Food Network. Experts like Alton Brown and Cook's Illustrated magazine say
that you can safely dry age beef in your refrigerator at home for 3-7 days,
while others like
Bruce Aidells and Martha Stewart suggest that you leave dry aging to
professional butchers.

If you choose to dry age
a standing rib roast, you accept the risk of ruining an expensive cut
of meat, or that you won't like the resulting flavor. Some people who are
not familiar with the taste of dry aged beef describe it as "gamy" or
"musty". Others call it "buttery" or "rich".
In the end, it's all a matter of
personal preference.

Here are some pictures I
took when I prepared this roast on December 6,
2003.

As
always...click on any of the pictures to
view a larger image.

Three-Rib, Small-End
Standing Rib Roast

Photo 1

This is a three-rib USDA
Choice standing rib roast cut from the small end (ribs 10-12), weighing 7.73
pounds. It came already tied by the butcher, and I left it that way during
aging.

When buying a bone-in rib roast, figure
on 1 to 1-1/4 pounds pre-cooked weight per serving.

Buy a roast with the rib bones attached.
They provide better moisture retention and flavor, and act as a natural roasting rack.

It's not necessary for
the roast to be tied during dry aging, but it should be tied at each
bone before cooking. This prevents the outer layer of meat from pulling away from
the rib eye. Place the roast bone-side down. Cut a length of kitchen
twine, loop it around the roast parallel to the first bone, bringing the
two ends to the top of the roast. Pull snug and tie with whatever kind
of knot you like, then repeat at each bone.

Don't bother cutting
the ribs off and tying them back on before cooking. They're easily
removed once the roast is cooked.

This video
demonstrates how to tie a roast. Click on the video to play.

Dry Aging The Roast

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

On "Good Eats", Alton
Brown drilled holes in a Rubbermaid container to create a
"prolifically perforated plastic bin" (Photo 2). This allows air to
circulate around the meat and protects it from spills and other
contaminates, while protecting your fridge from any juices that might seep
from the roast. Place the roast bone-side down on the lid and put the bin over
the roast, as shown in the photo.

Alternatively, Brown
suggests placing the roast bone-side down on a rack over a rimmed sheet
pan and covering loosely with a dry towel, changing the towel daily.

When dry aging beef, your refrigerator
should be impeccably clean and free of any items that
produce strong odors, as the exposed meat may absorb these odors.

Place the roast at the
back of the lowest shelf in your refrigerator, which should be the coldest
location. Lower the refrigerator setting to achieve a temperature of
34-36°F. Measure the temperature near the roast using a refrigerator
thermometer, or place a Polder probe thermometer in a glass of water
situated next to the roast (Photo 3).

I followed Brown's advice
and dry aged this roast for three days.

Photo 4 shows how the
roast looked after three days in the perforated bin. At first glance, it
doesn't look much different, but Photo 5 shows that some of the edges
have begun to dry out.

Use a sharp knife to shave off any dried or
leathery spots on the roast. Photo 6 shows how much I trimmed from this
roast. Brown says,
"You may also notice a slightly funky aroma. That's OK. The smell of
success."

With the
roast trimmed, tie at each bone using butcher's twine to prevent the outer
layer of meat from pulling away from the rib eye during cooking.

Combine the dry mustard,
Dijon mustard, and sugar to make a paste. Apply a thin layer of paste over the
meat and fat surfaces of the roast (no need to apply to the bones). Cover loosely
with Saran Wrap and let sit at room temperature for one hour before
cooking.

Just
before cooking, generously sprinkle the roast with kosher salt and freshly
ground black pepper. Again, no need to do this to the bone side.

Cooking The Roast

Photo 7

Photo 8

Photo 9

Photo 10

Photo 11

For this roast, I used the
Minion Method to fire the cooker, but I used
only one Weber charcoal chimney of unlit Kingsford charcoal briquettes and
spread 30 lit coals on top of the unlit coals.

Use cold water in the pan to
help keep the cooker temperature low, and use a modest amount of smoke wood to
compliment the natural flavor of the meat. I used two medium-sized chunks of dry cherry smoke
wood.

Place the roast bone-side down
on the cooking grate. There's no need to turn and baste the roast or replenish
the water pan during cooking.

Smoke the roast at 225-250°F
until it reaches an internal temperature 10-12°F below your
desired final internal temperature, then remove it from the cooker. For example,
I wanted a final temp of
130°F for medium-rare, so I removed this roast at 118°F.

Here's how the cooker and
internal meat temperatures went during the cooking process.

Time

Lid
Temp

Meat
Temp

Vent
1
%

Vent
2
%

Vent
3
%

1:30pm

-

35

50

50

50

1:45pm

215

37

100

50

50

2:00pm

250

39

50

0

0

2:15pm

249

41

0

0

0

2:30pm

225

48

50

0

0

2:45pm

240

57

20

0

0

3:00pm

235

62

20

0

0

3:15pm

232

71

20

0

0

3:30pm

227

78

50

0

0

3:45pm

232

87

50

0

0

4:00pm

234

93

50

0

0

4:15pm

230

104

50

0

0

4:30pm

224

107

100

0

0

4:45pm

230

111

100

0

0

5:02pm

232

118

100

0

0

Note that the vent percentages
represent the way I set the vents at the time indicated.

When the roast hits the desired
temperature, remove it from the cooker, transfer it bone-side down to a roasting pan, and cover loosely with foil.

As the roast sits, fire your oven to 500°F.
When the oven is hot, remove the foil, put the roast in the oven, and sear for
15 minutes. This will create a lot of smoke in the kitchen, so open some windows
or turn on the ventilation fan.

Note: If you used a
probe thermometer to measure internal meat temperature during cooking in the
WSM, remove the probe and replace it with a length of bamboo skewer before
putting the roast in the oven. The probe may be ruined if placed in a 500°F
oven, and the skewer will prevent juices from spurting out of the hole where the
probe was inserted.

After searing, remove the roast from the oven
and cover loosely again with foil. Let rest for 30 minutes before carving.

The idea here is that the "low
and slow" WSM cooks the meat evenly throughout and draws juices to the surface
of the roast, then the ripping-hot oven sears those juices, creating a flavorful
crust.

Carving And Serving

Photo 12

Remove the butcher's twine and
roll the roast onto its side so the ends of the bones are pointing straight up. Cut
downward close to the bones using a sharp boning knife, or better yet, a good
electric knife. A picture of cutting the bones from a standing rib roast can be found in the Prime Rib - Herb
Crusted article.

Carve the boneless roast into 1/2" slices and reserve the bones
as a tasty snack for the chef.

In my cooking log, I noted that
the meat had moderate smokiness and the crust had good flavor. The roast had a
smoke ring about 1/4" wide. The meat was evenly cooked inside, thanks to the low
temperature in the WSM. And of course, the
roast was tender as could be.

Did dry aging improve the
flavor of this roast? Yes, I think it did, but it's hard to say how much without
doing a side-by-side comparison. This roast seemed to have a richer, beefier
flavor than others I've done.

The Virtual Weber Bullet is your best source for Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker information and discussion on the Web. Popular with competition barbecue teams, the WSM is an easy-to-use water smoker that's equally at home in the backyard. See the WSM and its component parts; get recipes, usage tips, and modification ideas; check-out BBQ-related resources; and discuss the WSM with owners and enthusiasts in our online forums.

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